Letter: A graveyard of trees at Camp Rich

Tree removal this summer at Camp Richardson. Photo/Liana Zambresky

To the community,

The USFS has done the deed. The trees have been cut.

The campground will never again be the same. I walked through it with dismay. As I looked at the big piles of dead trees and slash, and also at the few left standing, I asked myself why this is necessary? I saw a western tanager and robins hoping around on the piles of debris, as if they were also questioning why anyone would want to cut these trees. Why are they doing this in a campground that has already been here for decades?

Ever since the Angora Fire, the USFS has been on a relentless agenda to get rid of trees. However, in a place like Camp Richardson, where people want to be closer to nature and enjoy the Tahoe experience, they should have a gentler hand. This is a great tragedy. What they have done is too excessive. They are ruining Tahoe. They are ruining Camp Richardson. Everyone knows what a supermarket parking lot looks like. That’s not why people come to Tahoe to camp at Camp Rich.

Liana Zambresky, South Lake Tahoe